True Cross Karakura
by Max Wolfwing
Summary: Demons are showing up in Karakura Town. Aizen and the Espada are making deals with Satan for power. And in the middle of it all, can the Exorcist and Shinigami get along long enough to take them down? No pairings, unless you count the matchups and Shima and Kon chasing girls as usual. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a kind of idea my friend My Beautiful Lie and I came up with a looooonnnngggg time ago when I read her story, The Crimson Night. (I suggest you check it out, it's good, even if she hasn't updated in a while.) All I have to say is that I thought her story was a bit of a Bleach/Blue Exorcist crossover and we kinda spawned the idea from there. I just got around to writing it. Oh, My Beautiful Lie, if you read this and wanna collaberate on this together, or just take it over, PM me so I know. XD**

* * *

"Karakura Town?" Rin Okumura asked when his twin brother, Yukio, said the Exorcist Cram School Class had a mission to said town.

"Yes, Rin, Karakura Town," Yukio said, trying not to let his exasperation show. Izumo Kamiki rolled her eyes at Rin. "It's a Western Tokyo city with an average population. Despite this, it seems that demons are readily attracted to it. Your mission while in Karakura town is to take out as many lower-level demons as you can. You will each have a mentor of your chosen Meister with you to guide you and help if things get out of hand. Suguro, since you're doubling Meisters as Aria and Dragoon, which would you prefer for this mission?"

Ryuji Suguro, the top kid in the class despite his punk looks, thought for a moment. "Dragoon," he said. Yukio nodded.

"All right then. We leave tomorrow. Meet at the train station at 10:00 in the morning. You're all dismissed."

* * *

Ichigo Kurosaki sighed. His day hadn't been going so well. Last night hadn't been fun, either. Hollows had been running rampant around his hometown, Karakura Town, last night, which meant, even with the help of Hitsugaya's task force and his friends Rukia Kuchiki, Orihime Inoue, Chad Sado, and Uryu Ishida, he'd barely gotten any sleep. And this morning hadn't helped matters any when he and Rukia had almost been late for school. They had to skip breakfast in order to get there on time. Then at lunch he'd gotten into a fight with one of the bullies at his high school and had gotten detention. Because of the fight, he hadn't eaten his lunch, since the teacher had decided to go on a rant that lasted until the bell rang to go back inside for class. So he was tired, hungry, and pissed. Not a good combination.

Ichigo sighed again and turned his head to look out the window. At least he had a desk with a good view.

Something moving caught his eye. He frowned and squinted a little, looking in the direction of the movement. _Is that…?_ he wondered, looking hard. _Naw, it couldn't be._ The thing he was looking at was hardly the size of a cat, not the normal size of a Hollow. And besides, he couldn't sense any spiritual pressure coming from it. Then it jumped and bit a woman passing by the school.

Ichigo yelped and jumped up. "T-Teacher! I've gotta go!" he cried, then without waiting for an answer bolted out the door and made for the stairs.

He ran outside and used his Substitute badge to get out of his body and into his shinigami uniform, Zangetsu slung across his back and itching for a fight. He hurried over to where the woman was screaming.

"Hey! You bastard!" Ichigo yelled, trying to get the Hollow's attention. It turned its head to him. No, it turned its _body_. It was just about the ugliest Hollow Ichigo had ever seen, and he'd seen some pretty ugly ones. It had a ball for a torso and a head in one with three red spikes above its oddly shaped eyes. Two red lines curled from the left and right horns and its slitted eyes had light green circles with two points on either end around them. It had a giant red nose and long arms that contradicted its tiny legs. But maybe the worst thing was its mouth, a long slit filled with tiny, pointed teeth. It hissed at Ichigo and turned back to the woman, munching on her arm while she continued screaming.

Ichigo was confused. Usually Hollows left whoever they originally attacked for a shinigami. Shinigami were tastier, apparently, and their spiritual pressure made Hollows even more powerful. So why wasn't this Hollow going for Ichigo, clearly a shinigami, with his shihakusho and zanpakuto?

Ichigo shook his head and darted forward. It didn't matter. The Hollow, or whatever it was, was attacking a person and he had to get it away from her. He grabbed one of the Hollow's arms and flung it across the school yard.

He turned to the woman as she stood up from where she'd fell when the thing had attacked her. "Are you all right?" Ichigo asked, immediately smacking his forehead. When would he remember that normal people couldn't see him?

To his surprise, the woman looked at him. "I-I think so," she said. "What was that thing?"

Ichigo blinked. "Not sure," he said when he heard a hissing. He turned to see the thing picking itself up from where he'd flung it. And was it just him, or were there suddenly more of it?

"You need to get out of here," he said, pulling Zangetsu off his back as the cloth unraveled from around the blade. The woman was frozen, staring at the multiplying things. "NOW!"

That spurned her into turning and running. One of the things, the original one, Ichigo thought, started after her.

"Oh no you don't!" Ichigo yelled, and promptly sliced the thing in half. It let out a growl before it dissolved into ash.

Another thing jumped for Ichigo, latching onto the sleeve of his shihakusho. He made a grab for it and it bit his fingers. Ichigo yelped and shook his arm until the thing went flying off.

_Damn,_ Ichigo thought. _How many of them are there? I can't use Getsuga Tensho. I might destroy the school…_

"Heads up!"

Ichigo didn't need a second warning. He quickly jumped up, hoping he was going the right way just as a mass of blue arrows appeared below him and pelted the little monsters.

"Uryu!" Ichigo cried, turning to see the Quincy boy with his reishi bow, aiming for the growling, hissing mass.

"You were taking a while, so I thought I'd come out and save your lazy ass," Uryu said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo grumbled.

"What do you think it means, dumbass?" Uryu snapped back, letting another arrow fly as a monster charged him. "What are these things?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Ichigo said, slicing one himself. "One of them was attacking a woman a few minutes ago. That's why I ran out here. I thought it was a Hollow, but they're obviously not. You seriously have no clue what they are?"

"If I did, I would've told you!" Uryu growled. He let loose a new wave of arrows, taking out about half of the things. "Just how many of them are there?"

"Not sure," Ichigo said. He cut down three more enemies. "Can you set up a barrier of reishi that'll keep my Getsuga Tensho from destroying the school?"

"Depends," Uryu said, coolly shooting down two more that leapt at him. "Are we talking a shikai Getsuga Tensho or a bankai Getsuga Tensho?"

"A shikai one would do the trick, I think," Ichigo said. "Can you do it?" Six of the little beasts clung to the bottom of his shihakusho. He shunpo'd to Uryu, sending the little bastards tumbling to the ground.

"Yeah, but try to take it easy, ok? I'm not sure if the barrier would be too effective," Uryu said, maneuvering around so he was behind the swarm. "Distract them!"

"Easier said than done!" Ichigo yelled. Thinking desperately, he turned around and waggled his butt at the monsters. "Hey! Over here, you ugly bastards!"

"What are you doing?" Uryu shrieked, looking up from his reishi wall-making.

"You wanted me to distract them!" Ichigo shot back. He yelped as something bit his behind. "I think it's working!" He reached around and pulled the small buttmuncher off and stabbed it with Zangetsu. It crumpled to ashes in his hand. "Are you ready yet?"

"Ok, try it!" Uryu hollered. Ichigo turned to see a giant blue wall of reishi protecting the school.

"All right! Here goes nothing!" Ichigo yelled. "Getsuga Tensho!" A wave of pure reiatsu emitted from Ichigo's sword and turned all of the monsters to ash. The attack plowed through them with no problem and slammed into Uryu's barrier, taking it down but dissolving with the reishi wall.

Ichigo sighed in relief and landed next to Uryu. "Not bad, eh?" he asked, slinging Zangetsu over his shoulder in his usual fashion.

"You idiot!" Uryu snapped, hitting him and knocking him down. "I told you to go easy! We're lucky that the barrier took your attack with it! Don't you ever think? You might've destroyed the school anyway!"

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry," Ichigo groaned, sitting up. "But at least they're gone, right?"

A loud snarling made them both look up to see a giant one of the monsters glaring down at them.

"Is that…a crown on its head?" Ichigo asked.

"Uh huh," Uryu said, as dumbstruck as him.

"This isn't good, is it?"

"No, probably not."

The giant monster leaped at the two boys.

"Look out!" Uryu yelped, and they darted to each side.

"Great," Ichigo snapped. "How are we supposed to deal with this one?"

"El Directo!"

A powerful attack swallowed up the biggest monster from behind. It let out a loud screech as it dissolved.

"Chad!" Ichigo called gratefully when he saw his friend, still in his attack pose.

"Ichigo," Chad said in his normal soft way, "what was that thing?"

"Hell if I know," Ichigo said. "There were a bunch of smaller ones earlier. One attacked a woman. That's why I ran out here. Then the other appeared and Uryu helped me take them down."

"Ichigo! Chad! Uryu!" a familiar female voice called, drawing out their names. They all turned to see Orihime running toward them, Rukia right behind her. The girls stopped in front of the boys. "The teacher sent us to get you."

"What happened out here?" Rukia asked.

"Didn't I just explain this?" Ichigo grumbled. He gave them a quick version like he had Chad and Uryu. "This isn't normal Hollow activity, is it, Rukia?"

Rukia thought for a minute. "No, it's not," she said. "I'll let Captain Hitsugaya and his task force know about this. Now we better hurry. The teacher said if we're not back in five minutes, she's locking us out."

"Shit!" Ichigo quickly returned to his body and took off, the others at his heels.

* * *

**Sooooooo...what do you think? I did mostly Bleach to start, but (if I continue this) I promise I'll put in more of the Blue Exorcist cast! And I've decided I'm not gonna put my Bleach OC Sakura and my Blue Exorcist OC Safaia in this. It's just gonna be the original characters. Please review so I can know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Rin yawned and stretched as Kuro jumped onto his shoulders. _Where we going, Rin?_ the cat sith asked, rubbing his cheek against Rin's own.

"Oh, some town called Karakura," Rin mumbled, still a little sleepy. "Yukio said they've got a demon problem and us Exwires are gonna be there to take out the small fry with mentors to guide us."

_Can I help?_ Kuro asked hopefully, pawing at Rin's shoulder bag strap. He carefully climbed down so he was resting on top of the bag. _I wanna have fun too!_

"It's not supposed to be fun, Kuro," Rin said, scratching his familiar's head. Kuro gave a cat sigh and put his head on his paws, closing his eyes. _But I wanna have fun…_

"Hey, Okumura!" a familiar voice called. Rin turned to see Ryuji and his group coming down the stairs after him, their own bags with them. "Wait up!"

"Hey guys!" Rin said, waving. The Kurikara accidentally bumped his head and he rubbed the spot, more from embarrassment than actual pain.

"You ready for our mission?" Renzo asked once they caught up.

"You bet!" Rin said, smiling. "Kuro can't wait to get out and stretch his claws, either."

"Your familiar's coming too?" Konekomaru asked, reaching out and petting Kuro. Kuro cracked open an eye and immediately jumped into Konekomaru's arms when he saw who it was.

_Play!_ Kuro begged, pawing Koneko's chest. _Let's play!_

"He wants you to play with him," Rin translated.

Konekomaru laughed and pulled out his cat toy, waving it. Kuro pounced for it, missing. Konekomaru moved it in zigzags and circles, letting Kuro follow it before shaking it once Kuro got his mouth on it.

Ryuji shook his head. "You've created a monster," he grumbled. Then he straightened. "Come on, we have to be at the station by ten. Let's get going."

"Kuro, go with Konekomaru," Rin said. He looked at his timid friend. "If that's ok, that is."

"Sure!" Konekomaru said, picking Kuro up, who still had the cat toy in his mouth, and following them. "I don't mind at all!"

* * *

They made it to the station with fifteen minutes to spare.

"Rin!" Shiemi called, waving so the boys could see the little group that consisted of her, Yukio, Izumo, Takara, Shura, and a handful of other Exorcists.

"Hey, Shiemi!" Rin said, smiling at the girl. He waved back and they maneuvered over to the group. "How long have you been here?"

"Not too long," she said. "I can't wait to go to Karakura Town!"

"Me either, Shiemi," Renzo said, slinging his arm around her. "Do you think we might get a little break to go swimming? I sure hope Karakura Town has a beach or a rec center with a pool. I'm dying to see you and Izumo in swimsuits again!" Shiemi blushed madly and tried to stammer out a response while Izumo just glared.

"Shima!" Ryuji barked. "You're supposed to be a monk! Leave the girls alone!"

"Oh, I see how it is, Bon," Renzo said, letting the girl go and giving his childhood friend a sly smile. "You want Shiemi to yourself, is that it?"

Ryuji's cheeks reddened and the others laughed. "That's not it at all!"

"Excuse me," Yukio said, breaking in. "If I could have your attention, please?" The entire class turned and looked at him, as well as Shura and the Exorcists. "Thank you. Now, as you all know, we will be boarding this train in a few minutes to head to Karakura Town. We've gotten some reports there of demons multiplying and attacking humans. Apparently this town has become a sort of breeding ground, especially for lesser demons. Your mission is to pair up with your Exorcist mentors. They will be teaching you how to handle situations that come up as you battle multiple lesser demons at once."

"Why all the lesser demons?" Rin asked, raising his hand. "I mean, we've handled ghouls, Peg Lanterns, and even the Impure King. Don't you think you could possibly whip up something a bit more…I don't know, challenging?" A few of his classmates, namely Ryuji and Izumo, nodded.

"It's _because_ you've faced higher demons that we're giving you this mission," Yukio said. When he saw all the confused looks, he elaborated further: "So far you've proven to us that you can work together when there is a big power against you. But what we don't know is how you'll handle going against a smaller power on your own. If not handled and dealt with correctly, a lesser demon, such as a coal tar or hobgoblin, can cause a big problem. Especially if they start breeding. You know how to take care of something the size of the Impure King. Now we want to test how you get rid of smaller demons."

"I get it," Ryuji said. "This is about damage control."

"Partly," Yukio agreed. "It's also about making snap decisions that can affect both the big and smaller pictures. You can make multiple decisions in a battle, but more often than not none of them are right and you have to choose the one that will lead to the least amount of damage, both in the present and future. Let's say you've come up against a nest of hobgoblins in a school or someone's home. You've got two choices: take out the King or the smaller hobgoblins. Which do you choose?"

"The King, obviously," Rin said. "The King Hobgoblin's the bigger one with the bigger power, right? So that's the one you take out first."

"Good reasoning, but wrong," Shura said, stepping in. Yukio gave her a slightly annoyed look. "You take out the smaller goblins first. They're the ones that breed. The King or Queen Hobgoblin is the one that leads the smaller ones to different areas to make their homes and raise the young ones. They're practically nothing without their minions. The smaller ones cause more collateral damage, both to the place where their nest is and to the people around it, if they're in danger. They mindlessly protect their King because it's the one with the brains. A King Hobgoblin is simple to take down once the others are gone. It depends on the others to distract you before attacking, so your back is turned when it strikes."

"Oh," Rin said, disappointed his idea had been shot down.

"Don't feel bad," Shura said. "That's what this mission is about. We're here for you to consult when you're not sure if you're doing what's right. We've been around the block a few times and will guide and correct you when you're doing something wrong. Just remember though, you're the one who is in the lead. We're just followers to parley." The class nodded.

"Now, about your mentors," Yukio said, pushing his glasses up and looking the list in his hand. "Rin, you're with Shura."

Rin rolled his eyes and muttered, "Obviously, four-eyes."

Yukio ignored the comment and continued, "Suguro, you're with Kenta Oshiro." A dark, burly man with a shaved head stepped forward. He was a good head taller than all the others. He eyed Ryuji. Ryuji eyed him. The man glared. Ryuji gave his most withering glare back. Then the big man smirked. "I think we're gonna get along just fine, kid." Ryuji gave a small half-grin and nodded.

"Miwa, Shima," Yukio said. "Your partners are the Tsukinos, Aoi and Akira, respectively." A lightly built man with light brown hair and light gray eyes stepped forward with a platinum blond woman with blue eyes and massive breasts, which were the first thing that Renzo saw, of course.

Renzo was practically drooling when he said, "Heya, Ms. Tsukino. I bet we're gonna have a lot of fun together, right?" The woman promptly sniffed while the man smacked Renzo on the back of his head and snarled, "That's my _wife_, idiot. And _I'm_ your partner. Name's Akira."

"NO!" Renzo wailed. "That's no fair! How come Konekomaru gets to hang with a massive beauty like her?"

"H-Hello there, Mrs. Tsukino," Konekomaru said shyly.

"Oh, aren't you the cutest thing!" Aoi Tsukino cried, wrapping the boy in a hug. "Your name means 'kitten', and look, you've got a cat sith with you! Is it your familiar? I thought you were an Aria!"

"I-I am an Aria," Konekomaru said, blushing furiously as he pushed himself away from the woman's chest. "This is my friend Rin's familiar, Kuro."

_Hi, pretty lady!_ Kuro said, giving his best cat-smile.

While Renzo complained and Konekomaru politely pushed the crooning woman off of him, Yukio cleared his throat and said, "Kamiki, your mentor is Raiden Miyamoto. Shiemi, yours is Ayako Kawaguchi."

Izumo eyed the thin man that was to be her mentor. He had long, greasy black hair and bright blue eyes that were accented by the darkness of his hair. He sported a thin mustache and sideburns. Izumo hated him on the spot. Until he summoned a pair of demon foxes, like hers. "I hear you're a talented Tamer," he said, placing a hand on each of the foxes' heads. "Well, so am I. And I don't tolerate any slacking on missions, you hear? I want your very best and then even better when we're working. Understand?" Izumo nodded, eyes wide. She could respect this man.

Shiemi nervously looked at her mentor, who smiled widely at her. Ayako Kawaguchi had short, reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was as pale as Shiemi's, but somehow she made it look good. "Hi," she said cheerily to her student. "I'm Ayako Kawaguchi, but you can just call me Ayako. I prefer to be friends first and then mentor and student, so would you like to be my friend?" She stuck her hand out.

"Y-Yes!" Shiemi said, taking the woman's hand. "I'd like that very much, too!"

"Great!" Ayako said, taking her hand back. "Look, it doesn't matter to me how you do in the field, just try your best, ok?" Shiemi nodded, completely won over by the woman.

"Well, that covers it," Yukio said, folding his list and putting it in his pocket. "You will all receive your weapons when we reach Karakura Town. Once we are outside the train station there, your mission will begin. You will split up and take out as many demons as you can. Your mentors will record how many and what kind of demons you take down. Each demon is worth a certain amount of points. The winner will be the one with the most points. But keep in mind, your mentors will be grading you on how you handle the demons, too. These evaluations will be worth even more points than the demons themselves. Now here are your tickets. Good luck!" They all took their tickets and boarded the train.

* * *

"So even you don't know what these things are, Urahara?" Ichigo asked as the perverted shopkeeper in question studied one of the little buttmunchers. During the night Ichigo had found more of them at a children's playground and with Renji and Rukia's help captured one and shoved it in a cage. The figured that if anyone knew what they were, Kisuke Urahara would. Strangely enough, there hadn't been any Hollows lurking about that night.

"Hmm…" the blond man said, twisting and turning the cage the thing was in. It snarled at him when he poked it with a finger. He looked up and smiled. "Nope, not a clue," he said cheerily. Renji facepalmed while Rukia shook her head and Ichigo sweatdropped. "But I can tell you this: it isn't a Hollow."

"It's not?" Renji asked, confused.

"Nope," Urahara said. He twisted the cage around so they could see the thing's face. "As you can see, there is no mask or hole whatsoever, and as we all know, those are the distinguishing marks of a Hollow, whether they be Gillian or Espada." The group nodded as one. "Second, I feel no spiritual pressure coming from this thing, whatever it is. And all Hollows have spiritual pressure; again, you know this." Again with the nod. "I don't recognize this thing in any of my extensive research either, so I'm at a loss for what it is. For now, I suggest we call these goblins."

"Well, that makes the most sense," Renji said. "Those things are nasty little buggers. Goblins sounds about right for them."

"Yeah," Ichigo said, looking at the bite marks on his arm. "We're gonna have to go see Orihime so she can heal these."

Urahara turned to Renji. "Say, Renji, if you don't mind, could you wait on healing your marks? I want to analyze them, see if I can get any information."

"Hell no—" Renji started.

"Need I remind you that you are a freeloader here? The least you could do is let me look at your wounds," Urahara said, snapping his fan out in front of his face and peering over it at the crimson-haired shinigami. "Is that so much to ask? I can have Tessai heal them afterwards for you."

Renji looked like he was going to be sick for a minute before he muttered, "Fine."

"Excellent!" Urahara said happily, clicking his fan closed and placing it in his sleeve. "Look, these tests may take a while, so why don't you two head on back home, Ichigo?" Urahara nodded to him and Rukia. "I'll let you know if I have any information tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Ichigo said, standing up. "Well, thanks anyway, Urahara. We'll come back tomorrow after school. See ya around, Renji. Don't die, all right? Come on, Rukia, let's get going."

"Wait, whaddya mean, 'don't die?'" Renji stammered, looking up to see Tessai standing above him with a creepy look on his face. "Wait a minute, I changed my mind!"

"Hey, why don't we stop by and get some slushies from Hanataro?" Ichigo said as he and Rukia left the store, ignoring Renji's pleas.

"Sounds good to me," Rukia said. "While we're there we can warn him and Ganju about what's going on."

"Yeah, good idea." The two friends turned and made their way to the convenience store, completely disregarding the howls coming from Urahara's shop.

* * *

**1. Imagine Renji drawing out that "mind" part. It makes it funnier.**

**2. Ok, so you guys know, this was like, an early chapter. I usually don't update this quickly. I could take a month (or more) to write and get the next chapter up. What can I say? I'm lazy. :p And writer's block doesn't help. Nor does my job. Damn it, now I'm makin excuses! But I will try to have the next chapter up ASAP, all right? Don't hate me! *Ducks***


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